Gio Reyna will emulate his father, playing at Estadio Azteca

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A day before his only match at Estadio Azteca, Claudio Reyna assessed the progress of U.S. football and how the US national team was more competitive against Mexico.

“I think this is a bit insulting to them, because football is the only sport in their country,” the then US captain said in 2005.

His son Gio has the opportunity to play for the Azteca for the first time on Thursday night, when the United States faces Tri at the start of the triple date that will define the CONCACAF World Cup qualifier.

Claudio Reyna's last appearance as a national team was at the 2006 World Cup, during a loss to Ghana. So, Gio never saw his dad play for the national team.

“My dad retired from the national team when I was only 3 or 4 years old,” Gio Reyna, who is now 19, said Tuesday. “But he told me about this. I understand what some people have said to me, and obviously I've seen a lot of matches at Azteca.”

The teenage footballer spoke in Houston, where he coaches the United States national team.

Canada leads the final octagonal of the tie with 25 points and the United States is second with 21, the same as Mexico but with better goal difference.

Thus, the three North American teams have direct tickets to the World Cup for now. Panama, fourth with 17 points, would win the right to a playoff against an Oceania team.

Then come Costa Rica with 16 units and El Salvador with nine. Jamaica and Honduras are out of the World Cup.

If the United States qualifies next week, its name could be in the second pot of the draw on April 1, The winner of the repechage would instead be placed in the fourth pot, with theoretically stronger rivals.

“Advancing to the World Cup is absolutely the minimum required,” said midfielder Tyler Adams. “We need to do it to keep our program moving forward, to give our players the best chance to continue their development, and to achieve that international exposure and growth of this sport in the United States.”

The US national team failed in their bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, falling 2-1 in Trinidad and Tobago on the last date. This cut off a string of seven world cup participations.

Claudio Reyna's only game at Azteca was a 2-1 loss in the 2005 playoffs. He missed the qualifying matches in 1997 and 2001, due to accumulation of yellow cards.

Gio Reyna hurt a hamstring in September, and he hasn't played for the national team since. Last weekend, with Borussia Dortmund, he played 90 minutes for the first time since last summer.

“I've gained a lot of strength in the last two or three months, so, yeah, I'm pretty confident in my body right now,” Gio said. It was great to play 90 minutes.”

Reyna was separated by an ocean from the playoff matches.

“I got up at 3 or 4 in the morning to watch the games in Germany,” he said. “It definitely motivated me to return as soon as possible. Of course, this took longer than I would have wanted.”